glossary of terms - CONTEMPORARY ABORIGINAL SPIRITUALITY KINSHIP- is the system of relationships traditionally accepted by Aboriginal people, referring to the relationship between people that exists biologically due to birth, through marriage or by sharing the same features, characteristics or origins, as well as the system of rights and obligations attached to that certain relationship.
SKIN NAME- is a significantly important aspect of an Aboriginal person's identity that is given to newborns by the elders to display their kinship and help avoid incest from occurring. It is kept for life and affects all relationships, including marriage.
DREAMING- is a non-Aboriginal term used by many to mean the complex world view of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It not only explains how the world was created and how it is to be looked after, but it is also the environment that the Aboriginal people lived in, and still exists today. It is neither present, past nor future, but is along the same lines with them.
'The Dreaming' or 'the Dreamtime' indicates a psychic state in which or during which contact is made with the ancestral spirits, or the Law, or that special period of the beginning.- Mudrooroo, Aboriginal writer TOTEM- is a bird, fish, animal, plant or landform that is the symbol or representation of a specific spirit ancestor in a particular area of land. COUNTRY- is the place of Dreaming to Aboriginal people. It refers to the area of land where a number of Aboriginal families have lived, as well as the land from which the family of an urban Aboriginal person came (ancestors).
"Today we stand in footsteps millennia old. May we acknowledge the traditional ownerswhose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land, since men and women awoke from the great dream. We honour the presence of these ancestors who reside in the imagination of this land and whose irrepressible spirituality flows through all creation."-'Acknowledgement of Country' by Jonathan Hill
Governor Bourke's Proclamation of 'Terra Nullius' in Australia, 1835.
TERRA NULLIUS- "land belonging to no one" or "empty land". It describes territory that nobody owns, allowing any first nation to discover it the right to take over.
ELDERS- are older and influential members of an Aboriginal community who are recognized as keepers of knowledge. They're job within an Aboriginal community is to pass down the knowledge they possess to those of the younger generations.
ANCESTRAL BEINGS- are the supernatural beings who are believed to be the creator beings, travelling throughout the unshaped world in several forms, both human and non-human shaping the landscape, creating life and setting the laws of society.
ASSIMILATION- is the process where minority groups are forced to take on the basic attitudes, habits and lifestyle of another, more dominant nation. In the case of the Aboriginal people, they were forced to adopt the 'White Australian' way.
DISPOSSESSION- is the expulsion of someone from the possession of land. The Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land by force as European settlement spread throughout Australia.
NATIVE TITLE- is the recognition through Australian law that Aboriginal people have rights and interests to the land on which their families have lived and occupied for generations, and to which they are connected to. Native Title allows for Aboriginal people to claim ownership of the lands to which they are traditional connected.
STOLEN GENERATION- is the term applied to the Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their kinship groups and families and placed in institutions or foster care, in order to assimilate into the white community.
LAND RIGHTS- are property rights that pertain to land. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 allowed Aboriginal people to claim Crown land not being used by other people. It also allowed for an Aboriginal Lands Council to be established to control this land.
EVANGELIZE- is the preaching of the Gospel in order to convert people to Christianity. The 'White Settlers' attempted to convert the Aboriginal people to Christianity in an attempt to civilize them.
SELF-DETERMINATION- is the freed choice over one's own actions and the right to make up one's own mind without the interference or compulsion of others. It can also be considered the political independence of a people. It is the idea that Aboriginal people had a control over their own lives.
ACTIVITIES TO ASSIST IN THE LEARNING & UNDERSTANDING OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS:
Write a detailed sentence for each of the fifteen key terms. Be sure to place them in the correct context to further assist in your understanding of each term. The following fifteen sentences were completed by me as an example of how the task should be completed.
A vital aspect of the Aboriginal spirituality is kinship as it provides the Aboriginal people with a sense of identity, as well as a relationship among both their fellow people and the environment surrounding them.
When an Aboriginal child is born, and elder will bestow a skin name to them to determine which tribe they belong to, and in doing so allows for the future avoidance of incest, and therefore tribal conflict.
The Dreaming is a major aspect of Aboriginal spirituality and and is identified differently for certain individuals, as each Aboriginal person relates to a specific dreaming (sometimes more than one), which allows them to determine how they should approach the expression of their spirituality.
There are several ways to determine where certain Aboriginal people belong, including totems, which could be represented through a symbol of an animal, plant or land form, and determines the tribe or clan one shares a relationship with.
The country plays a significant part in Aboriginal spirituality as it is a place of Aboriginal ancestry, and therefore a place of the Dreaming.
The concept of Terra Nullius was declared upon the lands of Australia following the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1770, when he, along with fellow Captain Philip determined that there were very few Aboriginal people, and therefore believed that they could not possibly have owned the vast land, now known as Australia.
Every Aboriginal tribe consists of elders, as they provide the younger generations with information through storytelling and Aboriginal art.
The Dreaming provides an explanation of the creation process, referring to the ancestral beings who roamed the unshaped earth, creating landforms and life, and whose spirits were passed on to later generations.
The concept of assimilation resulted in the immense loss of a majority of the Aboriginal culture and spirituality, as countless Aboriginal people were forced to adopt the habits, culture, lifestyle and even spiritual beliefs of the 'white settlers'.
As the European settlement spread throughout Australia, the process of dispossession came into effect, disconnecting the Aboriginal people with the land, and resulting in the loss of a vitally important aspect of Aboriginal spirituality; the land.
The Aboriginal community began to witness the birth of their rights with the Native Title Act of 1976, which allowed for the Aboriginal people to claim unowned land, as well as several other right concerning the land.
Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia, made a formal apology to members of the Stolen Generation and their families, apologizing during a session in parliament for the fact that countless Aboriginal families were broken apart due to the taking of Aboriginal children away from their fellow kin.
After many years of fighting, the Aboriginal people managed to receive acknowledgement of several Land Rights concerning the land that had been taken from them, allowing them to reclaim the land, therefore reconnecting with their culture and spirituality.
Through the missions, the white settlers attempted to evangelize and convert the Aboriginal people into Christianity, with the idea that they may become more civilized.
It was believed that the self-determination of the Aboriginal people could prove a threat to what the white settlers had already achieved, as the Aboriginal people could find independence and control over their own lives through it.
If the process of forming detailed sentences using each SST did not have much of an effect, then perhaps the task of matching the definition with the word could prove of assistance. This task can be completed by either re-drawing the table and placing the words in the correct position, by numbering the term with its correct definition or through color coding. Whilst completing the task, be sure to avoid looking at the above definitions, as this will hinder your learning.
TERM
DEFINITION
Kinship
is the term applied to the Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their kinship groups and families and placed in institutions or foster care, in order to assimilate into the white community.
Evangelize
is the expulsion of someone from the possession of land. The Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land by force as European settlement spread throughout Australia.
Land Rights
is the freed choice over one's own actions and the right to make up one's own mind without the interference or compulsion of others. It can also be considered the political independence of a people. It is the idea that Aboriginal people had a control over their own lives.
Terra Nullius
are the supernatural beings who are believed to be the creator beings, travelling throughout the unshaped world in several forms, both human and non-human shaping the landscape, creating life and setting the laws of society.
Dispossession
are property rights that pertain to land. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 allowed Aboriginal people to claim Crown land not being used by other people. It also allowed for an Aboriginal Lands Council to be established to control this land.
Assimilation
is the process where minority groups are forced to take on the basic attitudes, habits and lifestyle of another, more dominant nation. In the case of the Aboriginal people, they were forced to adopt the 'White Australian' way.
Native Title
is the recognition through Australian law that Aboriginal people have rights and interests to the land on which their families have lived and occupied for generations, and to which they are connected to. Native Title allows for Aboriginal people to claim ownership of the lands to which they are traditional connected.
Ancestral Beings
"land belonging to no one" or "empty land". It describes territory that nobody owns, allowing any first nation to discover it the right to take over.
Dreaming
is the system of relationships traditionally accepted by Aboriginal people, referring to the relationship between people that exists biologically due to birth, through marriage or by sharing the same features, characteristics or origins, as well as the system of rights and obligations attached to that certain relationship.
Totem
is a significantly important aspect of an Aboriginal person's identity that is given to newborns by the elders to display their kinship and help avoid incest from occurring. It is kept for life and affects all relationships, including marriage.
Skin Name
is the preaching of the Gospel in order to convert people to Christianity. The 'White Settlers' attempted to convert the Aboriginal people to Christianity in an attempt to civilize them.
Self-Determination
is a bird, fish, animal, plant or landform that is the symbol or representation of a specific spirit ancestor in a particular area of land.
Elders
is the place of Dreaming to Aboriginal people. It refers to the area of land where a number of Aboriginal families have lived, as well as the land from which the family of an urban Aboriginal person came (ancestors).
Country
is a non-Aboriginal term used by many to mean the complex world view of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It not only explains how the world was created and how it is to be looked after, but it is also the environment that the Aboriginal people lived in, and still exists today. It is neither present, past nor future, but is along the same lines with them.
Stolen Generation
are older and influential members of an Aboriginal community who are recognized as keepers of knowledge. They're job within an Aboriginal community is to pass down the knowledge they possess to those of the younger generations.
The following is an example of using the numbering process to match the terms with their definitions:
TERM
DEFINITION
Kinship 1
is the term applied to the Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their kinship groups and families and placed in institutions or foster care, in order to assimilate into the white community. 15
Evangelize 2
is the expulsion of someone from the possession of land. The Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land by force as European settlement spread throughout Australia. 5
Land Rights 3
is the freed choice over one's own actions and the right to make up one's own mind without the interference or compulsion of others. It can also be considered the political independence of a people. It is the idea that Aboriginal people had a control over their own lives. 12
Terra Nullius 4
are the supernatural beings who are believed to be the creator beings, travelling throughout the unshaped world in several forms, both human and non-human shaping the landscape, creating life and setting the laws of society. 8
Dispossession 5
are property rights that pertain to land. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 allowed Aboriginal people to claim Crown land not being used by other people. It also allowed for an Aboriginal Lands Council to be established to control this land. 3
Assimilation 6
is the process where minority groups are forced to take on the basic attitudes, habits and lifestyle of another, more dominant nation. In the case of the Aboriginal people, they were forced to adopt the 'White Australian' way. 6
Native Title 7
is the recognition through Australian law that Aboriginal people have rights and interests to the land on which their families have lived and occupied for generations, and to which they are connected to. Native Title allows for Aboriginal people to claim ownership of the lands to which they are traditional connected.7
Ancestral Beings 8
"land belonging to no one" or "empty land". It describes territory that nobody owns, allowing any first nation to discover it the right to take over. 4
Dreaming 9
is the system of relationships traditionally accepted by Aboriginal people, referring to the relationship between people that exists biologically due to birth, through marriage or by sharing the same features, characteristics or origins, as well as the system of rights and obligations attached to that certain relationship. 1
Totem 10
is a significantly important aspect of an Aboriginal person's identity that is given to newborns by the elders to display their kinship and help avoid incest from occurring. It is kept for life and affects all relationships, including marriage. 11
Skin Name 11
is the preaching of the Gospel in order to convert people to Christianity. The 'White Settlers' attempted to convert the Aboriginal people to Christianity in an attempt to civilize them. 2
Self-Determination 12
is a bird, fish, animal, plant or landform that is the symbol or representation of a specific spirit ancestor in a particular area of land. 10
Elders 13
is the place of Dreaming to Aboriginal people. It refers to the area of land where a number of Aboriginal families have lived, as well as the land from which the family of an urban Aboriginal person came (ancestors). 14
Country 14
is a non-Aboriginal term used by many to mean the complex world view of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It not only explains how the world was created and how it is to be looked after, but it is also the environment that the Aboriginal people lived in, and still exists today. It is neither present, past nor future, but is along the same lines with them. 9
Stolen Generation 15
are older and influential members of an Aboriginal community who are recognized as keepers of knowledge. They're job within an Aboriginal community is to pass down the knowledge they possess to those of the younger generations. 13
KINSHIP- is the system of relationships traditionally accepted by Aboriginal people, referring to the relationship between people that exists biologically due to birth, through marriage or by sharing the same features, characteristics or origins, as well as the system of rights and obligations attached to that certain relationship.
SKIN NAME- is a significantly important aspect of an Aboriginal person's identity that is given to newborns by the elders to display their kinship and help avoid incest from occurring. It is kept for life and affects all relationships, including marriage.
DREAMING- is a non-Aboriginal term used by many to mean the complex world view of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It not only explains how the world was created and how it is to be looked after, but it is also the environment that the Aboriginal people lived in, and still exists today. It is neither present, past nor future, but is along the same lines with them.
'The Dreaming' or 'the Dreamtime' indicates a psychic state in which or during which contact is made with the ancestral spirits, or the Law, or that special period of the beginning.- Mudrooroo, Aboriginal writer
TOTEM- is a bird, fish, animal, plant or landform that is the symbol or representation of a specific spirit ancestor in a particular area of land.
COUNTRY- is the place of Dreaming to Aboriginal people. It refers to the area of land where a number of Aboriginal families have lived, as well as the land from which the family of an urban Aboriginal person came (ancestors).
"Today we stand in footsteps millennia old. May we acknowledge the traditional ownerswhose cultures and customs have nurtured, and continue to nurture, this land, since men and women awoke from the great dream. We honour the presence of these ancestors who reside in the imagination of this land and whose irrepressible spirituality flows through all creation."- 'Acknowledgement of Country' by Jonathan Hill
TERRA NULLIUS- "land belonging to no one" or "empty land". It describes territory that nobody owns, allowing any first nation to discover it the right to take over.
ELDERS- are older and influential members of an Aboriginal community who are recognized as keepers of knowledge. They're job within an Aboriginal community is to pass down the knowledge they possess to those of the younger generations.
ANCESTRAL BEINGS- are the supernatural beings who are believed to be the creator beings, travelling throughout the unshaped world in several forms, both human and non-human shaping the landscape, creating life and setting the laws of society.
ASSIMILATION- is the process where minority groups are forced to take on the basic attitudes, habits and lifestyle of another, more dominant nation. In the case of the Aboriginal people, they were forced to adopt the 'White Australian' way.
DISPOSSESSION- is the expulsion of someone from the possession of land. The Aboriginal people were dispossessed of their land by force as European settlement spread throughout Australia.
NATIVE TITLE- is the recognition through Australian law that Aboriginal people have rights and interests to the land on which their families have lived and occupied for generations, and to which they are connected to. Native Title allows for Aboriginal people to claim ownership of the lands to which they are traditional connected.
STOLEN GENERATION- is the term applied to the Aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from their kinship groups and families and placed in institutions or foster care, in order to assimilate into the white community.
LAND RIGHTS- are property rights that pertain to land. The Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976 allowed Aboriginal people to claim Crown land not being used by other people. It also allowed for an Aboriginal Lands Council to be established to control this land.
EVANGELIZE- is the preaching of the Gospel in order to convert people to Christianity. The 'White Settlers' attempted to convert the Aboriginal people to Christianity in an attempt to civilize them.
SELF-DETERMINATION- is the freed choice over one's own actions and the right to make up one's own mind without the interference or compulsion of others. It can also be considered the political independence of a people. It is the idea that Aboriginal people had a control over their own lives.
ACTIVITIES TO ASSIST IN THE LEARNING & UNDERSTANDING OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS:
Write a detailed sentence for each of the fifteen key terms. Be sure to place them in the correct context to further assist in your understanding of each term. The following fifteen sentences were completed by me as an example of how the task should be completed.
A vital aspect of the Aboriginal spirituality is kinship as it provides the Aboriginal people with a sense of identity, as well as a relationship among both their fellow people and the environment surrounding them.
When an Aboriginal child is born, and elder will bestow a skin name to them to determine which tribe they belong to, and in doing so allows for the future avoidance of incest, and therefore tribal conflict.
The Dreaming is a major aspect of Aboriginal spirituality and and is identified differently for certain individuals, as each Aboriginal person relates to a specific dreaming (sometimes more than one), which allows them to determine how they should approach the expression of their spirituality.
There are several ways to determine where certain Aboriginal people belong, including totems, which could be represented through a symbol of an animal, plant or land form, and determines the tribe or clan one shares a relationship with.
The country plays a significant part in Aboriginal spirituality as it is a place of Aboriginal ancestry, and therefore a place of the Dreaming.
The concept of Terra Nullius was declared upon the lands of Australia following the arrival of Captain James Cook in 1770, when he, along with fellow Captain Philip determined that there were very few Aboriginal people, and therefore believed that they could not possibly have owned the vast land, now known as Australia.
Every Aboriginal tribe consists of elders, as they provide the younger generations with information through storytelling and Aboriginal art.
The Dreaming provides an explanation of the creation process, referring to the ancestral beings who roamed the unshaped earth, creating landforms and life, and whose spirits were passed on to later generations.
The concept of assimilation resulted in the immense loss of a majority of the Aboriginal culture and spirituality, as countless Aboriginal people were forced to adopt the habits, culture, lifestyle and even spiritual beliefs of the 'white settlers'.
As the European settlement spread throughout Australia, the process of dispossession came into effect, disconnecting the Aboriginal people with the land, and resulting in the loss of a vitally important aspect of Aboriginal spirituality; the land.
The Aboriginal community began to witness the birth of their rights with the Native Title Act of 1976, which allowed for the Aboriginal people to claim unowned land, as well as several other right concerning the land.
Kevin Rudd, former Prime Minister of Australia, made a formal apology to members of the Stolen Generation and their families, apologizing during a session in parliament for the fact that countless Aboriginal families were broken apart due to the taking of Aboriginal children away from their fellow kin.
After many years of fighting, the Aboriginal people managed to receive acknowledgement of several Land Rights concerning the land that had been taken from them, allowing them to reclaim the land, therefore reconnecting with their culture and spirituality.
Through the missions, the white settlers attempted to evangelize and convert the Aboriginal people into Christianity, with the idea that they may become more civilized.
It was believed that the self-determination of the Aboriginal people could prove a threat to what the white settlers had already achieved, as the Aboriginal people could find independence and control over their own lives through it.
If the process of forming detailed sentences using each SST did not have much of an effect, then perhaps the task of matching the definition with the word could prove of assistance. This task can be completed by either re-drawing the table and placing the words in the correct position, by numbering the term with its correct definition or through color coding. Whilst completing the task, be sure to avoid looking at the above definitions, as this will hinder your learning.
The following is an example of using the numbering process to match the terms with their definitions: